Hydraulic testing system



Patented ec. 9, 1941 UN i'l E. D STATES GF FI CE..

iiynasuuo TESTING SYSTEM:

William M; White, Milwaukee; Wis. Application Juneiz, 1939L serialNQ. 278,533

(ci. vs-sn- Claims.

This invention relates` to. improvements; in measuring and testing systems in which at.: least a portion of the measurements. are; related. to the flow conditions of a fluid and more'. particu.- larly toY a system for testing installations-iin;- volving hydraulic machines such as hydroelectric generating units or pumps driven by either mechanical or electricall driving means.

Under present conditions, hydraulic machines such for example as hydraulic turbines, are; sold under fixed guarantees of eiciencies atpredeter-f mined operating conditions and'acceptancetests must be carried out to determine whether or not such guaranteed efficiencies have been. at.- tained. An authoritativev current testA requires either that the tests be made after complete. installation of the turbo generating unit or, if such field tests are impossible, that tests bemade in a laboratory on a model turbinewith. itsrcomplete setting and with the turbine` and setting truly homologous with the actual' unit; llvery effort is therefore is-madev to make the tests on the actual turbo generating unit itselfl from which the actual input and output of 'the turbine and generator may be determined. ATheoutput of a turbine may be readily determinedfl by rneaurernent ci the generator outputbya single instrument, adding to such measurement' the known generator losses. They input t'o a tur-bine must, however, be. determinediby measurement of the quantity of water flowing (in cubic-feet per second) times the effective head on the.1 turbine (pressure head minus velocity head2) times a constant (62.4 divided by 550). Theinputfquan.- tities above mentioned cannot be measured by a single instrument and could not therefore heretofore be read suiciently sinriultaneouslyY1 to prevent the occurrence of large Variations when the turbine tests were made at diierent' times or by diierent persons even though the operating conditions were identical` for the several tests.

^ It is therefore an object oi the presentinvention to provide a testing system for hydraulic machines in which identical measurements` are obtainable for identical test conditions whether or not the tests are made at different timesor by different persons.

Another object of the invention is toeprovide a testing system in which theindicat-ions-of` a plurality of measuring instruments may beob'- tained simultaneously with anyV required?. degree of accuracy.

Another object of the invention is to provide a testing system in which a single meansisemplcyed to X the indications of4v a plurality of measuring instruments thereby permitting such measurements to be recorded as desired-1 Another object of the invention is to` provide a testing system in which all ofthe-measurements for testing a hydraulic uni-t, whether a tur-bine driving a; generator; or a pump. driven by.I a.:A moton. may be. fixed .simultaneously for reading; of. the instantaneous; veilles: of: allf in: struments lov` a; single; observer.

. Obiectsand advantages. other 'than those above set forth will bia-apparent; from; the following de;- scription vv'hen.` read in connection with tile ac'-A eompanying drawing;` Wheh.l daerammatieally illustrates theapnlication of the nresentftestins system tothe. testing of; a 11rdroelectric;generat-l ingr unit.v

Referringmore ratti.eularlv1Y tot the' drawing by characters; o f rference,t;he referencenumeral 6i indicatesthe spiral casing of a hydraulic tur.- bin-e. tovvhich water is. suppliedzby a@ penstock'l and from which Water is discharged into', a draft tube. 8; The'. turbiney shaft; 9; drives.` ani. electric generatorv lil! which. supplies; electric energyy to a distribution line |22. To determine. botlrr the quantity. and' the eiiective: head.V of' the'. water supplied tothe turbine; itzis: necessary: to. deter mine both the pressure head: and the Velocity head of the wateriiowingthroughthe.penstock'l; A number of' piezometer tubes` ll aregmounted in thev Walls ci?`x tlfiee penstock immediately ad;-4 jacent aplurality of` Pitot tubes' mounted within the penstock on a suitable support or rack' l8r. Both piezome-ter and Pitot tubes areconnected. to manometer tubes I9y whichA are mounted in side by side relation on a board'- 2 -I- carrying a suitable scale.v Thel several manorngeter.tubesl are each provided with stop cocks 2v2 andl are connected at thel upper ends by a manifoldrwhich is connected toA an airv pumpV 24; It istlierefore possible to place theV level ofv` the;v liquid Within the manometers I9 atA any desired' point onA the scaleb-y balancing the. hydraulic heads acting onf, the. piezometer and I Iitot'l tubes by; air p ressure from'. the.. pump.. The Pitot: tubes L1' will provide. a. readingy ofl both. the pressurethead and the. velocityV head whereas. thepezometer tubes ifa-will: provide indications, ofonly. the: pressure head. I tfv istherefore possible` to` determine `the velocity head` alone` b y obtaining the; diier-ence between the readings. of.. the twotypves of Ity will-be understood, that the above-combination offpiezometerT and Pitot tubes. may bel usedr for measuring the: pressure and.` velocity,4 heads.v in a conduit. whether or notsuchmeans are-used in connectiorrwith the testing. of; a, hydraulic turbine..k

The actual; pressurefhead acting! on .the turbine is composed of' the sum; of the.. positive pressure head ofi` the water actually suppliedtoisthet tur-- bine, and ispreferably. taken-i131 thespee d;. ring or discharge, oriceffrom the spiral: casingA into the turbine runner clfia-mbcr',- and; thef negative pressure,y head? produced` by. the rdraftf tub'ef- A piezometer tube" 2-6i is therefore` mounted",r ahead of the' turbine andi is herein indicatedE forthe is always present for some distance beyond the discharge edges of the runner vanes. Piezcymeter` p1 tubes 26 and 21 are connected with manometers 28 and 29 respectively equippedwith suitablescales 3| and 32. The manometer tube s 23 and 29 are provided with stop cocks 33 and 34- respectively. The sum of the readings on thetwo manometers 28 and 29 is taken as the total prssure head acting on the turbine, the partial vacuum in the draft tube 8 being just as eiective in producing power as the positive pressure of the water supplied to the turbine runner. K

1 vThe power output ofthe turbine is taken as the generator output plus the generator losses. Such outputv is measured by a wattmeter indicated at 4| and having the current coil thereof connected with the transmission line l2 by current transformers 42, while the Voltage coil is Y connected with the transmission line l2 through the voltage transformer 43. The Wattmeter 4I is shown asbeing provided with means such as a bar 46 pivoted at 41 and movable into position to clamp the pointer in its then position upon move- Y `ment ofthe bar.

belted to the turbine shaft or provided with a bar 53 pivoted at 54 and movable into position to clamp the indicator pointer `in its then position.

The present testing system provides means for simultaneously fixingV the indications of the several measuring instruments employed in such system.V Such means comprises a rodv 6I connected-with the stop cocks Y22, 33 and 34 in such manner that a single movement of the rod will operate all Vof the cocks. One end ofthe rod 6l is vprovided with a contact 62 designed to -bridge ja' pair of contacts 463, in one position of theV rod, to complete 'a'circuit from a battery 64 to a plurality ofsolenoid's 6,5 and 61 actingV on bell cranks 68 and 69 respectively formoving the clamping erating unit, a plurality of manometers for measuring the effective head of water applied to the generating unit, a plurality of manometers for measuringthe velocity of flow of the water supplied to the generating unit, a wattmeter for measuring the output of the generator, valves controlling the connections of all said manometers, a bar movable to clamp the pointer of said wattmeter in its then position, a solenoid for actuating saidbar, a source of electric current for said solenoid, and a single lever for operating said valves andr for controlling energization of said solenoid for'simultaneously fixing the indications ofY all lsaid manometers and of said wattmeter.

2.`Ina system for testing a hydroelectric generating unit, a plurality of :nanometers for measuring the velocity of flow of the water supplied to the generating unit, valves controlling the connections of all said manometers, a wattmeter for measuring the output of the generator, a tachometer for measuring the speed of rotation of the generating unit, bars severally movable to clamp the pointers of said wattmeter and of said tachometer in their then positions, solenoids for severally actuating said bars, a source of electric current for lsaid solenoids, and a single lever for operating said valves and for controlling the energization of said solenoids to simultaneously fix the indications of all said manometers and of said wattmeter and of said tachometer.

3.V In a system for testing a hydraulic unit, means for measuring the effective head of water applied to the unit, means for measuring the velocity of flow of the water supplied to the unit, valves severally controlling the connection of said head and said-velocity measuring means, a gauge Y having a pointer for indicating the power probars 41 and 53`into" clamping position against the tension of springs 1l and 12. A single movement of the rod 6 l thus/closes all of the stop cocks and clamps the several pointers to fix the indications of all of the measuring instruments in their then position and an opposite movement releases all of the indications of the measuring instruments. -It is thus possible for one observer to read any or all of the instruments of the improved testing system with any desired -degree of accuracy thus eliminating possible errors due to hurried-reading, to reading of moving indicators or to the reading of the same instruments by different observers. It will be understood that the above system in its entirety may be used either for testtherein without departing from the spirit of the duced by the unit,`a bar for clamping the pointer of said gauge in position, and a lever for actuating said'valves and Vfor controlling movement of said bar into position for clamping the pointer of said gauge.

4.' In a system for testing a hydraulic unit, lmeans for measuring the effective head of water applied to the unit, means for measuring the velocityof iiow of the water supplied to the unit, valves severally controlling the connection of said head and said velocity measuring means, a gauge having arpointer for indicating the power produced by the unit, a bar for clamping the pointer of said gauge in position, electrically operated means for'moving said bar into clamping position, and a lever for actuating said valves and for controlling energization of said bar actuating means.

5. In a system for testing a hydraulic unit, means for measuring the elfective head of water applied to the unit, means for measuring the velocity of flow of the water supplied to the unit, valves severally controlling the connection of said head and said velocity measuring means, a gauge having a pointer for indicating the power pro- .duced by the unit, a bar for clamping the pointer of said gauge in position, a solenoid for moving said bar into clamping position, a source of electric current for energizing said solenoid, and a leverrfor actuating all of said valves and for controlling connection of said solenoid with said source of electric current. Y l

WILLIAM M. WHITE. 

